Writing about reproductive rights issues in Minnesota and beyond!
As the political arm of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, we mobilize supporters of all parties to defend and increase access to family planning services and fact based, medically accurate sexuality education
We work to inspire and engage citizens to take up the cause of reproductive health and rights through education, electoral activity, grassroots organizing and legislative advocacy.

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24 October 2012

All the discussion about voter
registration and voter ID laws can be confusing. The Minnesota deadline to
pre-register to vote was October 16.It’s not too late to register to vote. Minnesota allows voters to use same-day registration to
vote. According to the MN Secretary of State, over 500,000 people used same-day
registration in 2008. In fact, around 61% of voters in Minnesota have used
same-day registration at some point.

Minnesota allows voters to register
on Election Day at their polling place. Same-day registration isn’t just for
new voters.If you were previously registered to vote but have moved,
changed your name or have not voted for four consecutive years you will need to
use same day registration. Also, if you received a notice of late registration from
your county auditor or city clerk you will need to use same day registration.
Minnesota provides a helpful voter registration lookup to check your
registration.

In addition, if you live in a
nursing home, veterans home, group housing, homeless shelter, battered women’s
shelter, or transitional housing you can still register to vote! An employee of
the facility you live in can vouch for your residency through a written form.

Are you worried about getting to the
polls? For some facilities (like nursing homes) the law allows you to designate
someone to bring you a ballot. You will need to fill out a request form and the
links are provided below.

So what’s all this about voter ID?
The ballot for the 2012 election will include a proposed amendment to change
the Minnesota Constitution. Voters will decide whether to change the
constitution or to leave the constitution the way it currently is. Voting
registration and procedures will remain the same for the 2012 election.
However, if passed, these changes would severely impact future elections,
including ending same-day voter registration. It would change how you vote, who
can vote, and increase the financial cost of elections.

17 September 2012

While groups all across Minnesota fight against the Photo ID
Amendment, an amendment that would require government-issued photo ID before
voting and would disenfranchise thousands of voters, a larger battle over voter
registration and suppression rages on at a national level.

On September 12th, Elisabeth MacNamara, the
president of the League of Women Voters of the United States, testified before
a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and spoke about the importance of
maintaining and protecting voters’ rights.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization
that was founded in 1920, six months before the ratification of the 19th
Amendment. Since literally the beginning of women’s right to vote in the United
States, the League has been there to advocate for voters’ rights and make sure
that everyone has the opportunity to have their voices heard in the elections.
The League does not endorse any parties or candidates, but strives to provide
equality and advocacy for all voters.

In MacNamara’s statement, she brought forward accounts of
disenfranchised voters all over the country, victims of voter registration laws:
elderly men and women unable to provide the needed paperwork to apply for
government identification; college students sent vague, threatening letters
from government officials, implying that they would have to un-register as
voters because their cars were not registered in-state; disabled veterans
unable to afford the time and money needed to procure the proper documentation
of their identities. These harrowing personal accounts were just snapshots in
the wave of numbers, as a study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that as
many as five million eligible voters may be disenfranchised by new state voting
laws. Compare this to the fact that not one case of voter fraud has been
definitively found.

MacNamara ended her testimony with a plea to the judiciary
to step in and held defend voters’ rights in the United States: “Our message,
Mr. Chairman, was simply put by President Lincoln during the Civil War. The United States must be a government “of
the people, by the people, and for the people.” Restrictions on the right to
vote limit the role of citizens in our democracy and are simply unacceptable. So too are the decisions that have turned
special interests loose to dominate our elections and distort our democracy. We have a lot of work ahead” (MacNamara 11).

So while we fight
to stop the voter restriction amendment in Minnesota, we are part of a larger
movement to ensure suffrage for all Americans, as has been the law since women
fought hard for those rights, 92 years ago.

MacNamara,
Elisabeth. United States. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. STATEMENT BY ELISABETH MACNAMARA,
PRESIDENT LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE SENATE COMMITTEE
ON THE JUDICIARY ON THE CITIZENS UNITED COURT AND THE CONTINUING IMPORTANCE OF
THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT. Washington DC: , 2012. Web. <http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/pdf/9-12-12MacNamaraTestimony.pdf>.

01 May 2012

Governor Dayton vetoed two bills that would have created greater barriers for women seeking to obtain the reproductive health care they need.

SF1921/HF2340, if it had become law, would have imposed a number of onerous requirements on clinics that provide abortions. This bill meant that abortion clinics, unlike any other physician practice, would be subject to unannounced inspections twice a year. It would have also imposed architectural and building requirements that has nothing to do with patient safety and, instead, are intended to decrease access to abortion care.

SF1912/HF2341, if it had become law, would have significantly decreased women's access to reproductive health care services especially those women in rural areas. This bill would have eliminated doctor's ability to use of telemedicine as a safe and effective way to administer a medical abortion for a patient.

Both bills did nothing to create jobs, improve our economy, or help Minnesota families.

27 April 2012

Yesterday, Governor Dayton vetoed a bill that would have created greater barriers for women seeking to obtain the reproductive health care they need.

SF1921/HF2340, if it had become law, would have imposed a number of onerous requirements on clinics that provide abortions. This bill meant that abortion clinics, unlike any other physician practice, would be subject to unannounced inspections twice a year. It would have also imposed architectural and building requirements that has nothing to do with patient safety and, instead, are intended to decrease access to abortion care.

This bill did nothing to create jobs, improve our economy, or help Minnesota families.

Lizz Winstead, co-creator of the Daily Show and author of Lizz Free or Die, is a comedian, writer, performer and one of the country's leading political satirists. The Minneapolis native has been selling out comedy shows using her special brand of humor across the country.

The Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund is the political arm of PPMNS. We mobilize supporters of all parties to defend and increase access to family planning services and fact based, medically accurate sexual education. Read more.